China National Materials Co, the world's largest provider of cement engineering services and equipment, raised HK$4.19 billion ($538 million) in a Hong Kong initial stock sale, people familiar with the matter said.

The Beijing-based company, also known as Sinoma, sold 931.7 million shares at HK$4.50 apiece, said the two people, declining to be identified before an official statement. The price was at the top of a range marketed to investors.

Hong Kong individuals ordered 266 times the number of shares initially made available to them, the people said. The retail portion was boosted to half of the IPO, from 10 percent, the first time since China Railway Group Ltd's sale on November 30 that a company attracted enough demand from individuals to boost the retail part of an offering to the maximum.

"People are taking interest in it for purely speculative purposes, rather than looking at the fundamentals of the company," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. "Consumption stocks are in focus now."

Seven of the 12 new share sales on the Hong Kong market that started trading since November  1 have sunk below their offering prices.

Sinoma is expanding to meet increasing demand for cement in China, the world's fastest growing major economy and largest market for the construction material. Proceeds from the sale will also be used to increase production of glass fiber, according to the company's share sale document.

BOC International (Holdings) Ltd and UBS AG arranged the sale.